Where Loyalty Lies
by Soran Marlovic
Summary: When Lee stumbles over a horribly injured exsound ninja there is a mystery to solve as to why Orochimaru deemed such a powerful girl useless to him.
1. Sheep among Wolves

"Mo, Gai-sinsei? You have to go to another mission again after we finish our training right? You've been busy with missions a lot since third Hokage-sama was appointed…" Gai and Lee were walking side by side on their hands through the forest which surrounded the hidden village of leaves. Gai was about to answer before Lee abruptly tripped over something while he was watching Gai as he waited for his teacher's answer.

"Lee-kun! Is my adorable pupil alright?" Lee rubbed his head as he remarked his pain softly before he looked up and realized just what he had tripped over, and when he did, both Lee and Gai gasped.

"The emergency room is prepared Hokage-sama, the healers are keeping her stable for now but she needs immediate care!" A curvy blond woman rushed through the impeccably clean hallways of the Konoha hospital. In addition to being the Hokage, the highest role a ninja could hope to gain in the Konoha hidden village of leaves, she was also the most knowledgeable doctor among the entire village. The two ninja Gai and Lee, both wearing their unique green jumpsuits jumped to their feet when the Hokage came into view, her jacket fanning out behind her as she rushed into the ER, her assistant rushing behind her holding her pet pig Ton-Ton. She said nothing to the two but rushed into the room ignoring the two's questions for the moment as she rushed to the injured girl inside.

"Gai-sinsei? Do you think that girl will be alright? She was barely breathing when we found her…" Lee watched the door of the ER worriedly. The girls figure came to mind as she was when they had found her during training. Her hair was shorter than Lee's, and dusky-red, as well as her eyelashes, though It could've been blood caking them from what was coming from her eyes. Her clothes had been very complex and with many pieces of leather armor, all of which torn into strips and dyed with more blood than one would expect someone to survive. Indeed when Lee first tripped on her, he had immediately assumed what he had fallen over was a corpse. But the girl had still been breathing, despite the blood that had already spilled so much that the wound seemed to have run dry. Even on his missions he hadn't seen such a badly mutilated body which still lived. He wondered if even he could've survived such a horrible state. Gai was silent during this, just watching the concern in his apprentice with his own. Unlike Lee, he had seen such things before, but never had he seen someone with the will to survive it as the girl seemed to have, even remaining conscious with such blood loss. The two of them grunted softly as the light above turned off, signifying that the care was over. Whether the patient had survived or not still remained to be seen. Tsunade, otherwise known as Hokage, stepped out, letting out a soft sigh. But when she smiled, the two who waited anxiously let out great sighs of relief. Tsunade-sama spoke first.

"She was very fortunate that you were able to find her. I'm amazed though. She was running on almost no blood. Her brain didn't even appear to become retarded by the lack of oxygen. What concerns me however is what she had on her." Lee and Gai, who had been dancing about like five year olds suddenly stopped, their faces sobering into seriousness. Lee spoke first.

"What was it Hokage-sama? Her clothes were so bloodied, I didn't think to look for anything." Indeed Lee's green jumper had been dyed by the girls blood as he carried her quickly to the hospital. Tsunade held out her right hand, in which a ninja-clan headband was held. She opened it and clearly on the metallic forehead protector was a musical note, cleanly sliced in half horizontally. Now it was Gai who spoke

"Hokage-sama, do you think she was coming here after betraying the hidden village of sound?" The blond woman shook her head abruptly, letting her hand fall as she put her left hand on her hip.

"I don't think so. Even if she had betrayed them, she could've gone to the stone country or the mist country rather than Konoha, the enemy of sound. She'd only be giving them another reason to attack us, and we wouldn't be the most accommodating of a sound ninja, whether she betrayed them or not… Huh?" Tsunade leaned back and looked behind her as she felt something on the small of her back. Lee and Gai turned bright red and spun on their heels to turn away. The same girl they had saved was standing behind Tsunade, naked as the day she was born, gripping the soft fabric of Tsunade's jacket.

"Excuse me. Where is this?" Tsunade gasped (though not nescessarily about her lack of clothes) and immediately took off her jacket, putting it around the girls shoulders. She thought furiously. 'This girl can't be younger than 16, surely she knows not to go out in public like that.. Wait.. She just had complete reconstructive surgery on three organs and twelve broken bones.. How the hell is she standing up already! Where are the healers!' Tsunade looked into the room and gasped. All of the healers were against the walls, completely asleep. She rushed into the room and the girl looked at her for a moment before leaving the room and down the hallway, holding the jacket around herself calmly. Lee curiously looked down to make sure she was wearing something now. And then turned to the girl.

"He… Hey! Wait! You just went through surgery right? I know how you feel but you can't just get up after something like that!" The girl turned to him and scrutinized him with very curious eyes. Gai jogged over and nodded in agreement to Lee. She looked at him as well, as if memorizing his appearance. She turned back to Lee, completely ignoring Gai after scrutinizing him.

"Where is this?" Lee smiled and held her shoulders as he answered.

"The hidden villiage of leaves Konoha. Come on. You should rest now." She shook him off with a motion so quick that even Lee was unable to see the change, only feel the friction nearly burn his hand until he pulled away.

"I don't want to." Tsunade came out of the room and rushed over. The girl immediately jumped back and into a defensive position as she saw Tsunade coming. When Tsunade tried to get any closer than Lee already was she shot sideways, ducking around the three of them just as quickly as Lee would without his weights.

"Lee Gai, catch her! She may cause a problem if she's so paranoid without even knowing who we are!" It wasn't a very quick chase however since not even getting to the stairs, the girl collapsed, Lee catching her deftly, though he turned bright red and tugged Tsunade's jacket around her tighter as he realized that the oversiezed jacket had slipped right off her shoulder and exposed her chest. Tsunade took her from him and watched her face curiously.

"Amazing. Its not even the surgery which made her collapse. She's fatigued. I've never seen such endurance, even Naruto doesn't heal as quickly as this girl." She carefully carried her to an empty room, beckoning Lee and Gai to follow as she spoke, placing the girl on the bed and closing the window.

"Lee, Kakashi should have just come back from his mission. Could you bring him here, as well as Shikaku?" Lee took a dutiful pose and shot out of the room, practically leaving track marks from the friction. Gai for once wasn't bursting with pride for his pupil as he watched the girl curiously. "What are you planning to do?" Tsunade sighed and sat down on a chair at the foot of the bed.

"The girl needs guards until she can be interrogated." The girl was completely silent and still as she slept. If one didn't know better, you'd think she were dead, just as she looked when Lee ran across her. Tsunade watched the girl even as Gai left to meet Lee and talk to the two jounen he had summoned. So many questions arose about this strange girl…

"Let me go! Let me go dammit! I won't be kept here! Where the fuck am I! LET ME GO!" Shikaku struggled to maintain control of the girl, even with the shadow techniques he mastered from his family, she still somehow was overpowering him, forcing her way out of his hold as she threw her tantrum. Kakashi was trying to hold her back physically, and with wires, trying to think of a way to restrain her without harming her. Lee had been coming to visit her when he heard by chance from Gai that she was now awake, and rushed into the room as he saw Tsunade come before him. As he entered the room the scene was astounding.

The girl, now wearing the standard hospital gown was struggling angrily, thrashing in Kakashi's arms as her shadow was bound and further shadows were laced around her body all in effort to restrain her. Both Kakashi and Shikaku were speaking at once, trying to convince the girl that she was fine here, and Tsunade was writing something down on a tag-sheet. She thrashed angrily as she finally broke right through Shikaku's shadows, tossing Kakashi into the wall as if he were a rag doll. Lee could only watch in astonishment as Tsunade slapped the tag onto the girls neck and she suddenly stood still, and then fell backwards, the Hokage catching her gracefully. The two jounen were picking themselves up. Kakashi whistled as he looked down at the girl who was now immobile but still conscious.

"She's quite a handful. I've never seen someone so powerful since I met you Tsunade." Tsunade put her on the hospital bed and the girls eyes shot directly at the window, narrowed in fury at the three in the room.

"Yes. She's got quite a spirit. I don't know why Orochimaru banished her. She seems like just the type of person he would want. She's uncannily strong, has impossible endurance for pain… But when she was brought in, Orochimaru's mark wasn't anywhere on her body. Just imagine what she would be like if he had cursed her…" Evidently they hadn't noticed Lee yet, but he came to their attention as he spoke.

"Tsunade-sama, I have a request." The blond woman turned to face Lee, silent for the moment despite his obvious spying.

"Go ahead Lee." Lee pressed his index fingers together coyly as he watched the girl, also with her attention on the green-clad taijutsu master.

"I'd like to be her guard."


	2. Not so Innocent

"You can't be serious. Lee, I know that you are one of the most powerful taijutsu users in Konoha, but to believe that you can handle such a girl is pure foolhardiness." Tsunade gave him a look that stated simply, 'what the hell do you think you're capable of?' Lee instead just watched the unconscious girl with a sympathetic look.

"I feel like I owe her protection. I did bring her here when she didn't seem to be coming in this direction." Tsunade put a hand to her forehead exasperatedly as she thought it out.

"There is a jutsu we were planning to use anyway, a sealing spell that prevents her from using chakra. It appears that she needs to use chakra to become so powerful, despite the appearance that it is natural strength like mine, so she should be safe once its on." She was silent for a few minutes before speaking again. "Lee, if you think you're capable of handling her, by all means, but I insist that you allow one of the jounen to watch you in case things get out of hand." Lee saluted with a determined look on his face. "Keep a low profile with her though. The last thing we need is Orochimaru's spies finding that she's safe and alive in Konoha if they tried to kill her." Lee took out a little notepad and scribbled things down as Tsunade was leaving. She paused in the doorway as Kakashi looked about to disappear as he normally did. "Kakashi, I expect you to keep a close eye on her. We still don't know her intentions." With that, she and Shikaku left the room, leaving the three remaining.

Lee sat down and watched the girl curiously before suddenly realizing that guarding her, would prevent him from training nearly completely. He had to cover his mouth to hold in the cry of anguish.

'Where… Where am I?' The girl attempted to sit up and rub her eyes but she only got as far as her elbows before her strength collapsed. She felt something on her neck and reached her hand up to touch it. "An explosive tag? No… Sealing probably…" she looked around the room and took in her surroundings, noticing a boy in a forest green jumpsuit, asleep in a chair at the foot of her bed. She wondered to herself why she hadn't noticed him by presence, but was once again reminded of the sealing tag. The boy started to stir and she tried to ready herself for an attack but found herself to be completely without energy. With dismay she was forced to simply wait for him to wake up without any defenses.

Lee opened his eyes groggily, looking as if he too had forgotten where he was for a moment before he saw that his protectee had awoken as well. "Oh you're awake! Do you need something?" The girl blinked, completely dumbstruck at his sudden peppiness, and confused at the friendliness of what the boy had said. She stared at him for a few seconds before noticing the marking on his headband.

"Konoha?" She thought aloud and Lee knocked his head playfully. "Oh right. My name is Lee. I was the one who found you in the forest. You were pretty beaten up. What's you're name?" Lee grinned brightly and the girl decided immediately that she didn't like him. She scowled a bit as she answered.

"Katsuo Michiko" She didn't know her real name so she gave the one that Orochimaru gave her. 'child of the pathway to victory' she had been so glad to join Orochimaru, Why had he betrayed her?' She was brought out of her reverie when Lee carelessly pulled her from the bed in excitement, putting her on his back to carry her somewhere. "Wait! What the hell are you doing?" She felt completely mortified having to be carried around, and from the sterility of the room she guessed it was a hospital, so shouldn't someone be yelling at him for removing her? Lee just grinned over his shoulder and said "Since I'm protecting you, I can't train as much as I normally do, so I think I'll take you to a place that has better breakfast than the hospital!"

"…

Is this supposed to be your idea of a joke?" Lee stopped slurping down noodles to look at her blankly, an expression on his face that was reminiscent of a confused puppy. He ate his mouthful before speaking thankfully.

"What do you mean? This place has the best ramen in Konoha…" Michiko wanted to scream but unfortunately any change in power immediately sapped her strength so instead she had to struggle to keep her temper.

"What kind of idiot eats RAMEN for breakfast!" A loud person suddenly blew his way into the ramen stand and the two cooks grinned at the customer like it was Christmas.

"Oh, Naruto-kun. Good morning." Lee smiled and waved emphatically, and Naruto grinned brightly before noticing Michiko. She had to cover her ears when he exclaimed. 'mo.. Is anyone in this village quiet?' Naruto didn't lower his voice as he continued to speak.

"Ehh! Who's this Lee? Did you get some guarding mission on a VIP or something? Man! I never get the good missions…" Michiko ignored him for the time being and asked for some water from the cooks. They seemed disappointed that she didn't have the love for ramen that the other two apparently did.

"I think this village is quite useless from what I've seen." She drank the water delicately, as if it were fine sake, though her eyes stayed on the two as they paused in their eating to stare at her. "Overenthusiastic morons left and right. I'm not surprised that the Hokage died so easily." The harsh words were met with silence and Naruto looked about to explode at her, she continued speaking before he could start yelling however.

"Ha ha, you're so sensitive. Don't you know anyone who's weak deserves the defeat they experience? Ninjutsu is an art which is kill or be killed. If you aren't the strongest, you don't deserve to be a ninja." She laughed to herself, a cold sound before she felt a hand close on her shoulder. Lee was standing beside her with a serious expression.

"I think that's enough. I should talk to you." Michiko's face sobered up into a blasé curious look, but she still grinned darkly back at the cooks and Naruto as she left with Lee. She gasped and grumbled again as Lee picked her up without notice onto his back and shot upward onto one of the roofs. She was about to argue when she noticed his expression and was quieted.

"Michiko-kun. You are a foreigner to this village, even an enemy, but your people harmed you and left you for dead. You would do well not to anger the company which provides for you despite these hindrances." Michiko made a soft 'tch' noise and looked away from Lee, down at the street instead.

"You shouldn't've saved me anyway. If Orochimaru deemed me unfit for his village, I will accept that as my reality and submit to his judgement." Lee was silent and the noises of the street below was all that was heard for a moment before he directed her attention at himself again.

"If you truly believed that, then why did you keep going after they left you for dead?" Michiko's eyes widened in surprise and squinted again, staring at the street below to avoid Lee's eyes.

"I wasn't in my right mind. It was my body that wanted to survive not me. Had Orochimaru asked I would have disemboweled myself before him without a moments notice." Lee felt shocked at her words. He himself had seen Orochimaru, even if it was from afar, and he didn't seem like such an inspiring man as to cause such words. Yet every person who worked for him had a dedication to him stronger than any other bond except perhaps love. Michiko reminded him of the pale man Gaara saved him from.

"Even so. Why do you insist upon being so hostile to everyone here? You're here now. That's what matters. No matter what your feelings are towards Orochimaru, he doesn't support you anymore. Konoha does. You should be more grateful." Michiru's eyes suddenly shot to Lee's and she stood up, walking towards him menacingly and forcing him to walk backwards.

"What makes you think you know so much about me! I didn't ask to be brought here. YOU brought me here. Orochimaru took me from a horrible life and gave me purpose. All you did was take a stranger from the spot they were supposed to die. You have no right to ask things of me! I --" Michiko suddenly collapsed and Lee caught her, feeling her forehead and finding her fever to have returned. He picked her up quickly and bound off, not realizing that he had been standing inches from the edge of the roof, over which the poles of a fence someone was working on were pointed directly up, which would have impale him had he taken a single step back.

* * *

Nik: Yo! Sorry to any of you who pay attention to my other stories, that I haven't been paying much attention to, but at the moment I'm going through a huge Naruto thing. I'm almost done with my beautiful gaara gourd! Its so pretty... Anyway, I hope you like the menace of this chapter. Don't worry. I don't plan on killing Lee. He's one of my two favorite characters you know! Stay tuned for the next installment! 


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